Obstetricians’ opinions of the optimal caesarean rate: a global survey – User Guide

Persistent identifier

10.17037/DATA.40

Description

Quantitative data from a global online survey of medical doctors who had performed at least one caesarean in the last five years. Participants were recruited by online invitations via national obstetrics and gynaecology associations, large clinical studies of deliveries and maternal health organisations. The sample was not representative of all doctors performing caesareans worldwide. Data were collected between August 2013 and January 2014. Respondents were asked for background information (gender, age, occupation, facility characteristics, country of practice), before reporting their opinion of the optimal caesarean rate – defined as the caesarean rate that would minimise poor maternal and perinatal outcomes – at the population level and within specific sub-groups of deliveries (including women with demographic and clinical risk factors for caesareans). This dataset also includes national indicators for included countries (global region, income level and caesarean rate).

Data collection methods

An online questionnaire was developed to collect doctors’ opinions of the optimal caesarean rate. The optimal caesarean rate was defined as the “proportion of women who should receive a caesarean for optimal maternal and fetal outcomes”, including mortality and morbidity. The target population were medical doctors having performed at least one caesarean in the last five years, worldwide. Respondents were also asked to report the optimal caesarean rate for four groups of deliveries (Absolute Maternal Indications, other clinical categories, reproductive categories, and low-risk women). The survey was uploaded via the online platform SurveyMonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.com) in four languages (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish). Respondents were recruited through several media: dissemination to members of 32 national obstetrics societies, to networks of maternal health organisations, as well as to collaborators of large multi-centre studies in obstetric care.

Data analysis and preparation

Data from SurveyMonkey were imported into and analysed in Stata version 13.

Geographic regions

Worldwide

Key dates

Data collected took place between 14 August 2013 and 31 January 2014.

Quality controls

The questionnaire was developed in English and piloted among 13 medical doctors (including 2 obstetricians) from 10 different countries. The final version of the questionnaire was translated into French, Portuguese and Spanish, and checked by clinicians practicing in these languages.

Population

Medical doctors from 10 countries

Privacy

The dataset has been anonymised - information enabling identification of respondents will not be made available.

Ethics

Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (no 6455).

Keywords

Caesarean, obstetrics

Language of written material

English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Project Information

Creators

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